Wiring Agents

Open Brain includes a wire command that auto-discovers AI tools on your system and injects the MCP configuration.

---

Auto-Wire (Recommended)

# See what needs wiring (read-only)
python server.py wire --check

# Wire everything
python server.py wire

The wire command scans for:

• Claude Desktop
• Claude Code CLI
• Cursor
• Windsurf
• VS Code (Copilot)
• Continue
• Codex CLI

---

Manual Wiring

If you prefer to configure manually, add the following to each client's MCP config file.

Windsurf

Config file:

• Windows: C:\Users\<USERNAME>\.windsurf\mcp_config.json
• Linux / macOS: ~/.windsurf/mcp_config.json

Windows:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "open-brain": {
      "command": "C:\\path\\to\\open-brain\\.venv\\Scripts\\python.exe",
      "args": ["C:\\path\\to\\open-brain\\server.py"],
      "env": {
        "DATABASE_URL": "postgresql://postgres:<your_password>@localhost:5432/openbrain",
        "EMBEDDING_PROVIDER": "ollama",
        "OLLAMA_BASE_URL": "http://localhost:11434",
        "METADATA_LLM_MODEL": "qwen2.5:32b"
      }
    }
  }
}

Linux / macOS / WSL:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "open-brain": {
      "command": "/path/to/open-brain/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/path/to/open-brain/server.py"],
      "env": {
        "DATABASE_URL": "postgresql://postgres:<your_password>@localhost:5432/openbrain",
        "EMBEDDING_PROVIDER": "ollama",
        "OLLAMA_BASE_URL": "http://localhost:11434",
        "METADATA_LLM_MODEL": "qwen2.5:32b"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Config file:

• Windows: C:\Users\<USERNAME>\.cursor\mcp.json
• Linux / macOS: ~/.cursor/mcp.json

Same JSON structure as Windsurf (use the appropriate platform example above).

Claude Desktop

Config file:

• Windows: C:\Users\<USERNAME>\.claude\settings.json
• Linux / macOS: ~/.claude/settings.json

Same JSON structure as Windsurf (use the appropriate platform example above).

Claude Code CLI

Windows (PowerShell / cmd):

claude mcp add open-brain "C:\path\to\open-brain\.venv\Scripts\python.exe" "C:\path\to\open-brain\server.py" ^
  --env DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:<your_password>@localhost:5432/openbrain ^
  --env EMBEDDING_PROVIDER=ollama ^
  --env OLLAMA_BASE_URL=http://localhost:11434 ^
  --env METADATA_LLM_MODEL=qwen2.5:32b ^
  --scope user

Linux / macOS / WSL:

claude mcp add open-brain "/path/to/open-brain/.venv/bin/python" "/path/to/open-brain/server.py" \
  --env DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:<your_password>@localhost:5432/openbrain \
  --env EMBEDDING_PROVIDER=ollama \
  --env OLLAMA_BASE_URL=http://localhost:11434 \
  --env METADATA_LLM_MODEL=qwen2.5:32b \
  --scope user

VS Code (Copilot)

Config file:

• Windows: C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming\Code\User\mcp.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Code/User/mcp.json
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/mcp.json

VS Code uses servers, not mcpServers

VS Code's MCP config uses a "servers" key and requires "type": "stdio" in each entry.

Windows:

{
  "servers": {
    "open-brain": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "C:\\path\\to\\open-brain\\.venv\\Scripts\\python.exe",
      "args": ["C:\\path\\to\\open-brain\\server.py"]
    }
  }
}

Linux / macOS / WSL:

{
  "servers": {
    "open-brain": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "/path/to/open-brain/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/path/to/open-brain/server.py"]
    }
  }
}

---

Verifying the Connection

After wiring, restart the client and check:

• Windsurf: MCP icon (plug) in Cascade panel, green dot, 11 tools
• Cursor: Chat panel, hammer icon, open-brain listed
• Claude Code: Run claude mcp list. Should show open-brain: ... Connected
• Claude Desktop: Ask "What tools do you have?" Should list the 11 tools

---

Enabling Auto-Capture Behavior

Wiring the MCP connection gives agents access to the tools. To make them use the tools automatically, add the behavioral rules:

Client	Where to add rules	Source file
Windsurf	.windsurfrules in project root	prompts/windsurf-rules.md
Cursor	.cursorrules or Settings > User Rules	prompts/cursor-rules.md
Claude Desktop	Settings > Custom Instructions	prompts/claude-desktop.md
Claude Code	CLAUDE.md in project root	prompts/generic-system-prompt.md
Any other client	System prompt field	prompts/generic-system-prompt.md

These rules tell agents to silently capture context after tasks and recall prior context before starting new ones.